NATURACTOR FOUNDATION

NATURACTOR FOUNDATION

This product is the bomb! The texture, staying power, the coverage… everything are ABOVE average. After more than 2 years, I can finally retire my Mary Kay concealer. FYI, Mary Kay Concealer still has better coverage (in my opinion) but I really get more with Naturactor. It feels lighter and blends easier. One tub will lasts me almost forever. I highly recommend this foundation.

BTW, I have combination skin. It goes very nicely on my cheeks throughout the day! However, I noticed some shine on my tzone after 4-5 hours. If you have oily skin, setting this with a powder will help the foundation stay in place for few more hours. Also, I recommend bringing blotting papers with you, it's life changing. Training yourself to use blotting sheets to remove shines is better than adding bunch of powders on your face (this will avoid clogging your pores) for retouching. 

PROS

-a little goes a long, long way

-it brightens up my undereyes (using as undereye concealer)

-provides good coverage without looking so unnatural

- Not cakey even when used with setting powder (I use ben nye to set this)

-has creme to powder finish
-it's a creme foundation but it's not too dewy looking
-appears really natural looking

CONS

-not available locally

-hard to find your shade

-smells like Chinese cream

PICTURES

LORAC Pro & Unzipped: Shade Comparisons

LORAC Pro & Unzipped: Shade Comparisons

Hi everyone!

Hope you're having a wonderful week so far. This blog comes as the result of a request by lovely viewer and friend- Linda Webb! She posted this comment on my Warm & Cozy Eye Tutorial video where I used the LORAC Unzipped palette... 

After reading Linda's comment, I was eager to compare the two palettes and see how many shades actually overlapped. I was surprised I hadn't done this sooner! I feel like the Pro palette has become so popular, and many people who have that one might be wondering whether or not Unzipped is worth it. So let's get started. Here are the two palettes (and keep in mind- you can click any of these pictures to enlarge them).

Top: LORAC Pro Palette

Bottom: LORAC Unzipped Palette  

 Pro swatches are on top, Unzipped swatches are on the bottom. At a glance, you might notice some similarities. I decided to do some side-by-side swatches of any shades that seemed remotely comparable. I'm not claiming to have found any exact dupes, but wanted you to see for yourselves how close (or not so close) some of these shades are. 

Pro: Mauve - Unzipped: Unconditional

These shades are both matte, and they look almost identical when you see them in the palettes. However in the swatches, I notice Mauve to have a more purple tone and Unconditional is more pink.

Pro: Lt. Bronze - Unzipped: Unreal

These shadows have the same shimmery, metallic finish. They're really quite close in tone as well! But I can tell that Light Bronze has more of a golden tone, and Unreal has more pink.  

Pro: Taupe - Unzipped: Unspoken

Both are mid-toned matte browns... not too light, not too dark. This was another situation where the shades look identical in the palettes, but side-by-side, it's pretty clear that Unspoken has more warmth, where taupe is a cooler-toned brown. 

Pro: Cream - Unzipped: Undercover

Here's a couple of shades that actually don't have the same finish-- I feel like Undercover is more of a satin (doesn't really show in this pic), and cream is totally matte, however the color of these shades is very much the same. 

Pro: Gold - Unzipped: Undiscovered

These golds both capture the metallic finish- but the one in the Pro palette is more of a classic gold, and Undiscovered is a softer, less brassy shade... it's like gold mixed with a champagne color. 

♥

There you go! Hopefully this satisfied your curiosity if you were wondering whether these palettes overlapped. I don't feel like there are any truly exact dupes from one palette to the next, but there are some definite similarities. For some of you, maybe these swatches are so close that you don't feel having both palettes is necessary-- for others, you might find these swatches different enough to put you over the edge to buy another. Beyond the pairs that I've swatched, these palettes do have some distinct differences overall. The Pro palette has a wider variety of colors and tones (warm & cool), but the Unzipped palette has more mid-tone bronzy/brown and burgundy colors. Quality-wise, I feel like the two palettes are very consistent... both matte and shimmery shades are smooth, pigmented, and a little goes a long way in terms of application. Thanks for checking out this post, and thanks to Linda for requesting it! :) 

ELF Holiday Palettes at Walgreens

ELF Holiday Palettes at Walgreens

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share a little Walgreens find with you. I noticed quite a few different ELF holiday products on sale, including these eyeshadow palettes. There were a few palettes that were quite large as well! I've never tried ELF's new eyeshadows with the triangular shapes, so I figured I'd pick up this neutral palette (the only shade I saw that was on display), along with one of the Beauty Books (there were a couple of color options on these). I thought all of the white and gold packaging was really cute, by the way!

6 Piece Eyeshadow Compact ($3, Walgreens)

 At a glance, you can tell that there's nothing matte in this palette. I'm not so sure how I feel about the triangle-shaped pans. I mean, nothing is so small that you couldn't fit a brush into it, and a couple of the shades are quite generously-sized. But when you look at some of those acute angles (remembered something from geometry!!!), at some point- if you use up a lot of the shadow- you'll struggle to get into those corners. This palette does not include a mirror, but it does have a double-ended sponge tip applicator. 

When I first touched these, I immediately thought that the use of a primer would make a big difference. While some of the shades were nice and smooth either way (and surprisingly pigmented!), the primer really improves the application of the very flaky and shimmery white and gold shades (at the center of the palette). The primer I used was ELF's $1 Eyeshadow Primer. While nothing in the palette is matte, the deepest brown is the least sparkly/shiny color of the bunch. 

 ELF Beauty Book - 10 Piece Nude Eyeshadow Palette ($5, Walgreens)

The color variety in this palette really caught my eye. ELF puts out these Beauty Books every so often, and in the past, I've actually had pretty good luck with them. For 5 bucks you're getting 9 large eyeshadows, along with a double-ended sponge tip applicator, a Brightening Eyeliner in Black, plus some instructions on how to create a look. I'm not a big fan of the eyeliner... it's a dry, very old-school pencil liner. Now let's check out the shadows...

There's such a variety of shadows in this kit, both in terms of colors and finishes. For these swatches left to right-- I did the top 3 shadows, then the middle 3, then the bottom 3. I also used the ELF $1 Eyeshadow Primer in the bottom picture. There are two entirely matte shades in this palette- the first one in the line of swatches, and also the 7th. I was SO surprised at how buttery and smooth those shadows were- even with no primer! Shades 3 & 4 (the lilac & peach) on the other hand, looked gorgeous in the palette but were extremely flakey with no primer. As you can see, the primer had the biggest effect on these two shades-- with primer, they go on much more smoothly and are less dry. All of the other shades range from a metallic to a satin finish and were consistently good. Love that greenish-teal, as well as the deep grey. 

♥

Bottom Line: While the $3 palette has a nice combination of neutral colors, I'm not jumping up and down over it (probably because I already own a LOT of neutral shadows). And while they look pretty with a primer, there's just nothing really unexpected or unique about the palette, and I would've liked at least one matte shade in there. I was really impressed by the Beauty Book, and just astonished at how nicely those matte shades go on. I like that you get a couple of colors to pop things up with, but mainly there are lots of pretty neutral basics. A pretty great deal for $5, in my opinion. Have you run into any other drugstore holiday palettes that you'd like me to test-drive? Let me know! :) 

FOTD: MAC Stroke of Midnight Face Palette

FOTD: MAC Stroke of Midnight Face Palette

Hi everyone and happy Monday!

Over the weekend I was playing around with a new kit from MAC- so I thought I'd share the look I created! This kit is the Stroke of Midnight Face Palette in Cool (there's also a warm option). I tend to use both warm and cool tones in my makeup looks, but I was drawn to this kit because of... you guessed it- the berry lip color! :) I have a few other things from the Stroke of Midnight holiday collection, and I'm thinking I'll probably do an all-in-one type of review soon- sharing my take on everything. In case you were wondering- my foundation is Cover Girl + Olay Simply Ageless (thanks MissCrystalMakeup for making me want to pull this out again!), and the blush is the Jane Multi-Colored Cheek Powder in Peach Bouquet.   

The packing of the whole Stroke of Midnight collection just makes me think of the Great Gatsby. Black, white, and gold- just gorgeous. The whole compact is a little larger than the size of my iPhone. There's a decent-sized mirror on the inside, and I don't think you can really see it, but there's a little trap door over the lip products- which is great for keeping the powder fall-out away from the creams!

The palette contains...

-Iridescent Powder in Sparkling Rose (soft pink with gold frost)

-Lipstick in Sublime Pleasure (Lustre- sheer rose)

-Lipstick in Romantically Inclined (Cremesheen- plum)

-Eyeshadows (left to right) - All Races (matte), Scene (satin), Magic Moor (veluxe pearl)

-Eye Kohl in Ebony (black)

This isn't a full-on review- but just some observations on the kit. The highlight is quite sheer, but I think it gives a really pretty glow when dusted on the cheekbones and down the nose. I also used this as a highlight under the brow. The lip colors are both quite shiny- I used the plum shade all over with a lip brush, with just a dab of the lighter color in the center of my lower lip.

Maybelline Fall 2013 Limited Edition Color Sensational Lip Gloss

Maybelline Fall 2013 Limited Edition Color Sensational Lip Gloss

Hi everyone!!!

Happy Tuesday! I had an amazing weekend getting to hang out with Kristin Gehm in Chicago! It's kind of the halfway point between where we live, and we just had a blast (there will be a video coming). But she gave me some gifts-- including these incredible lip glosses that she's been raving about! They're limited edition for fall from the Maybelline Color Sensational line (the same line that makes Almond Crush- which I love!) I was never able to find these new shades, so being the makeup-loving friend she is, Kristin tracked them down for me up in Wisconsin! Thank you!!! ♥

The deeper shade is #305 Raspberry Ablaze, and the pink-ish color is #310 Berry Brilliance. 

These are creamy, shiny colors with no shimmer. They don't feel sticky on the lips, yet I think the staying power is pretty impressive. I've been wearing Raspberry Ablaze today and have gotten groceries and eaten lunch... while there's not a lot of shine, there's still plenty of color hanging around on my lips, and it hasn't gotten sloppy running outside my lip line. I also like that I can get full color with a minimal amount of product- without having to build it up with tons of extra gloss. Goopy lips are not fun!

Benefit Luv It Up Cutest Nudist Makeup Kit

Benefit Luv It Up Cutest Nudist Makeup Kit

Hi everyone!

Hope your day is going well! This palette was part of my "Face of the Day" today on Beauty Broadcast Live.  It's from Benefit and it's called "Luv it Up! Cutest Nudist Makeup Kit". I know we all want to be the cutest nudist! LOL! Anyway, this is a limited edition holiday palette and retails for $25 on Benefit's website as well as Ulta's website. It contains several eyeshadows, a cream shadow, and a gloss. This is one of several holiday products from Benefit that were sent to me for review. 

This small tin is about the size of one and a half iPhones (standard unit of measure! :) There's no mirror on the inside, and it looks like the the inner palette that holds and divides the products could be removed if you wanted to use the tin for something else once you used up the products. The kit also comes with a little how-to guide.

The three shadows are about the size of a quarter, and come in the shades Call My Buff (satin finish creamy color), Nude Swings (shimmery peach), and Thanks A Latte (shimmery taupe). There's also a Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow mini (.11 oz) in R.S.V.P. (shimmery peach). And the mini Ultra Plush gloss is in Dandelion (.22 fl oz)- it's a very sheer peach.

From left to right: Dandelion gloss, R.S.V.P cream shadow, and eyeshadows in Call My Buff, Nude Swings, and Thanks A Latte. (The powder shadows were not applied on top of the cream just so you could see how the pigmentation is on their own). I've never been a huge fan of the Ultra Plush glosses because I think most of them are just so sheer! While the color shows up a bit more in the swatch on my arm, on top of my natural mauve-ish lip color, it comes off almost clear. The cream shadow is a very pretty color and reminds me a lot of MAC's Rubenesque paint pot- similar texture too. The lightest shadow is very subtle (performs better on top of the cream), and the two with shimmery clearly have the most pigmentation. 

On my eyes- I'm wearing the R.S.V.P. cream shadow as a base, with Call My Buff on the lid and under the brow, Thanks a Latte in the crease, and Nude Swings just above the crease. I also lined my eyes in black and smudge Thanks a Latte under the eyes. I'm wearing Dandelion gloss on my lips.

 Obviously this kit has been created to give the subtle, "nude" look. I'm not blown away by the quality of the eyeshadows, but they do a decent job on top of the cream base. As I mentioned on Beauty Broadcast Live, this kit might be a nice gift for a teen who is getting started with some subtle makeup. Nothing in this kit is going to look too intense by any means. All of the shadows are subtle and easy to blend. Where a lot of holiday kits are packed with glitz & glam... this might be a good option for someone who likes a lighter look on the eyes and lips. I think you could put together a grouping of similar drugstore products for less than $25 and still have great quality- but if an all-encompassing gift set is what you're after, I think it's a good option :) 

Tarte "Clutch the Spirit" Maracuja Lip Gloss Set

Tarte "Clutch the Spirit" Maracuja Lip Gloss Set

Hi everyone!

The reviews continue on 2013 holiday collections! I wanted to share my thoughts on this set from Tarte (which was sent to me for review)-  it's called "Clutch the Spirit" and includes 8 mini Maracuja lip glosses, as well as a little clutch. It's available for $32 at Ulta. 

 Perfect for the LSU fan in your life! :) I think the purple and gold clutch is pretty cute and I love the gold bow accent on the top. Yes- it can hold all of the lip glosses, but I would totally put this clutch to use in everyday life for a night out or something. It could easily accommodate a cell phone and a few makeup items, money, etc. 

Here's a look at the glosses and their swatches (shown in the same order as the glosses themselves). From left to right:

• Spirit - Light pink with a hint of shimmer
• Laugh - Creamy peachy nude
• Vixen - Creamy reddish coral
• Play - True pink with shimmer
• Dash - Hot pink with shimmer
• Dance - Creamy red
• Sing - Sheer red with gold shimmer
• Star - Sheer brick red with a hint of shimmer